The Alabama-Coushatta and Their Texas Friends
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East Texas Historical Journal Volume 27 Issue 1 Article 7 3-1989 The Alabama-Coushatta and their Texas Friends Jere Franco Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/ethj Part of the United States History Commons Tell us how this article helped you. Recommended Citation Franco, Jere (1989) "The Alabama-Coushatta and their Texas Friends," East Texas Historical Journal: Vol. 27 : Iss. 1 , Article 7. Available at: https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/ethj/vol27/iss1/7 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the History at SFA ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in East Texas Historical Journal by an authorized editor of SFA ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. EAST TEXAS HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION 31 THE ALABAMA-COUSHATTA AND THEIR TEXAS FRIENDS by Jere Franco Small, peaceful, and agricultural, the Alabama and Coushatta Indians called themselves the "medicine gatherers" and "white cane" people. For many years they built villages, planted crops, and hunted in peace. With the coming of the white men, they saw no reason to change their lifestyle. Although this peaceful attitude would be tested in years to come, it even tually led to the establishment of a home in Texas for them. I In 1541 the Alabama and Coushatt lived in separate villages, but as ethnic and linguist members of the Upper Creek Confederacy they main tained close relations. The Coushattas lived on Pine Island near the Tennessee River and the Alabama lived in northern Mississippi. By 1686 the Coushattas had moved to Creek Country. near present-day Mon tgomery, Alabama, and a dozen years later the Alabamas moved to a village on the Alabama River near the Coushatta town. Both tribes re mained in this region until 1763. They developed close ties with the French. After the French lost the Seven Year's War to England in 1763, they aban doned their fort and advised their Indian allies to leave the area or risk extermination by the English. 2 The two tribes heeded this advice by emigrating together, thus conti nuing their closely-intertwined lifestyle. By the close of the eighteenth cen tury the Alabama-Coushatta had emigrated to friendly Spanish territory in Louisiana. In 1795 some Alabama-Coushatta had settled in the Big Thicket area of East Texas along the Neches and Trinity rivers. The Spanish Governor specifically requested that more of their tribesmen join the Indians in the 1800s because he wanted to create an Indian barrier to Anglo settlement. l The Louisiana Purchase (1803) caused Americans to push the Indians from their area, and many more Alabama and Coushatta, as well as their relatives, the Muscogee, came to Texas. Comfortably established there by 1822, the tribes traded crops and skins for clothing in Natchitoches and Galveston. In addition to cultivating melons, corn l rice, potatoes. and cotton, they also raised hogs and horses. During the period of Spanish rule the Alabama-Coushatta established good relations with government officials which they later maintained with the Mexican Government. Con sidering these two tribes "industrious and peaceable." the Mexican govern ment felt it was "absolutely necessary to maintain peace" with them. To achieve this goal the Alcalde of Nacogdoches ordered several white families removed from Coushatta land and rebuked a governmental employee for surveying land within the boundaries of the Alabama-Coushatta area in 1835. 4 When Texas won its independence in 1836, the Alabama-Coushatta Jere Franco is from E1 Paso, Texas. 32 EAST TEXAS HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION transferred their loyalty to still another new government and declared their desire to remain in their Big Thicket home. They remained there for the rest of the century despite conflicts with whites and a few attempts to have the tribe removed from Texas. After 1875 they were one of only three tribes who lived in Texas because their relationship with white settlers dif fered significantly from the relationship between the settlers and more hostile tribes. Since the Alabama-Coushatta generally maintained amicable relationships with their Texas neighbors, white friends continually aided the efforts of the tribe in petitioning the Texas government for a reservation.' Despite good relations with Mexico. the two tribes began a firm friend ship with the Texans soon after settlement developed, a friendship forged primarily because of Sam Houston. Houston, an adopted member of the Cherokee tribe, soon established close relations with most of the Texas tribes. His ufriendly Indian" policy. based on expediency and affection, stood him well during the Texas Revolution. Some Alabama-Coushatta acted as guides during the Battle of San Jacinto while others offered food and shelter to Texas refugees. 6 When hostilities ceased in 1836, Sam Houston signed a treaty with the Cherokee and their associated bands, an agreement which specified a "firm and lasting peace forever." The commissioners promised the Indians land in addition to the same rights and privileges they enjoyed under the Mexican government. However. the following year the Texas Congress refused to ratify this treaty. Although the legislature recognized that the Alabama, Coushatta. and Muscogee "harbored pacific feelings towards the government of this Republick." it claimed that these tribes had no pretensions to territory. 6 In 1838 the Texas Congress opened a Land Office to assist white set tlers. As surveyors pushed into the Indian settlements to survey land for white claimants, the Indians retaliated with raids on both surveyors and settlers. The most hostile of these Indians joined with Mexican emissaries and conducted joint expeditions against the Texans throughout the spring and summer. By August Secretary of War Thomas J. Rusk informed Colonel Bowl. a Cherokee chief, that he should influence the Coushatta, who had joined the hostile Kickapoos, to desist from warfare. Although Bowl promi5".ed to inform Rusk of the tribes' movements, he failed to tell Rusk that some of the Coushatta had left their homes. On October 16, 1838, Rusk and a force of Texans attacked and defeated a combined group of Mexicans and Indians at the Battle of Kickapoo Village. A surprised Rusk discovered Coushatta. whom he had thought safely in their villages, among the dead.' Immediate anger followed this discovery. Some Texans demanded removal or extermination of not only the Coushatta but also the peaceable Alabamas. Rusk threatened to attack the villages with 500 militia jf they did not remain at home. "Ifyou act as our friend and have nothing more to do with our enemies." Rusk cautioned them. "you and your people EAST TEXAS HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION 33 lt have nothing to fear from us. & At this point Houston intervened to help his friends. On December 19, 1838 he sent a peace message to the Alabama and Coushatta and expressed sorrow for those warriors who had died in skirmishes with white surveyors and other Texans. Stop the raids, Houston promised, and neither the government nor any other whites will take retaliatory action against the tribe. 9 The president succeeded with his "talk," and for over a year the Alabama-Coushatta remained at peace in the Big Thicket area where they had established several towns. But in the summer of 1839 Indians and whites in Liberty County accused one another of stealing stock. The set tlers killed five Coushatta, ran off their livestock, and chased the remain ing Coushatta from their Baptist Village. Colutta, a leader of the tribe, complained to Mirabeau Lamar, now president of the Republic. Although he was angry over the injustice and worried for his tribe, Colutta also feared for the end of good relations with their Texas neighbors. "This is not right and it will, if persisted in, cause a wound never to be healed," he exclaimed. 10 Lamar's Indian policy emphasized vengeance rather than concilia tion. However, Colutta's message affected Lamar and he lost no time in responding to this plea. On July 9 he wrote to both Colutta and the citizens of Liberty County. In the letter to Colutta, Lamar expressed sorrow over the recent disturbances between the Indians and the nearby whites and blamed both groups for these problems. He blamed the Indians with stealing stock and warned them to behave honestly. Furthermore. he promised to send Indian Agent Joseph Lindley to act as mediator and protect their rights. In his message to the white settlers, Lamar described this tribe as "weak and defenceless. H He feared that unjust treatment could send the Indians fleeing to hostile tribes and an eruption of frontier war fare. Lamar promised the citizens that the new agent would control the tribe. I] On August 1, 1839, the citizens of Liberty County replied to Lamar on three counts. First, they claimed that they had not taken part in the previous disturbances. Secondly, they said that they had interfered in a "humble. persuasive manner to convince the persons imbodied for the purpose of Exterminating said Indians, that the said Indians had done no harm, but were friendly."12 Finally, these thirty petitioners felt that Lindley had misrepresented the facts to Lamar and that he was unfit to be an Indian agent. They charged that he did not speak the tribal language, resided at least forty miles from the nearest Indian village, and was one of those who wish to drive out the Indians. The settlers asked Lamar to replace Lindley with F.H. Rankin, who they claimed was the best agent and interpreter in Texas. 13 Perhaps Lamar distrusted their motives, disliked their choice of agents, or simply did not believe them, because he disregarded this advice. Lamar's views concerning Indian agents differed greatly from Houston's. 34 EAST TEXAS HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION Houston charged an agent to protect the interests of the Indian.